Grabbing her tablet, she quickly scanned every single medical document that she could find.  Most of them agreed that giving a sleeping or unconscious Terran things by mouth was a bad idea.  Swallow reflexes were iffy, and the chances of Kitten aspirating and developing pneumonia or some other lung injury was high.  So those ideas were out, since there was no way in any reality that Gladialis was going to allow that to happen.  Wild horses would nest in her vines before she did that.  Gently shaking Kitten, Gladialis began to call her name.  Gently and then getting louder, she was rewarded as warm brown eyes opened up blearily at her.  

“Huh? whuzzat?”, Kitten asked, her words slurred as she was still mostly asleep.

“Shhh, it’s ok, little one.  Just drink this for me, ok?  Just a few sips.”  Soft vines brought the tip of the straw to Kittens lips and the Terran reflexively sucked on the straw a few times, making the level of the liquid in the cup drop by a decent amount.  Then she gave a sigh and was back asleep.  Gladialis breathed a sigh of relief and thanked the Everbloom for small miracles.

The rest of the night was a quiet but nerve wracking night.  Kitten slept soundly, not a trace of the nightmares that had plagued her since Gladialis had known her, and nestled in her vines.  And while she could admit to herself that she loved the feeling, the knowledge that Kitten hadn’t fully made the decision herself still rankled.  She didn’t sleep, each and every single movement and sound had her anxiously checking the tablet for Kittens vitals.  Each time she tried to put Kitten into her bed, the Terran had grappled and fussed until she stopped.

Morning came and Kitten was still asleep.  She’d woken up a few times, drank, and then went back to sleep.  Unsure what time she could take Kitten into the doctors office, Gladialis dithered, trying to lose herself.  First in research, and then in making herself some fortified water.  It just wasn’t the same, worry and anxiety colored her every motion, and finally she lost her patience.  “Grew a long vine”, as the Affini would say.  Grabbing water bottles, plushie, tablets and anything else she thought she might need, Gladialis left the hab, Kitten nestled comfortably in the bower she’d made of her vines.  Covered with a blanket so the sun didn’t burn her, she made her way downstairs.  There was a cluster of Affini and florets downstairs, seemingly waiting for her.

“Miss Dulcisa!!!”, Harry shouted when he saw her.  “Hey, guys, it’s her!!!  She’s here!!!”

“Miss Dulcisa!! Is Kitten ok?”, Laria asked, her wings fluttering.  “I don’t see her…is she alright?”

“Kitten is just fine”, The Affini said, smiling and feeling happy that Kitten had made herself some friends.  She’d been worried that apart from Dawn and Autumn, she’d be too shy, but it seemed her fears were unfounded.  “Here, want to see?”, as her vines opened up and everyone got to see Kitten.  Sleeping away, covered in a blanket, her mouth adorably open.  Everyone gasped and cooed, Laria’s wings flapping slightly.  

“Has she woken up since last night?”, Laria asked, and got a little worried when Miss Dulcisa shook her head, then nodded, and wiggled a hand back and forth in a non-committal way.  “Is…umm…is that normal?”

“They were all so worried, our little darlings basically posted a watch here for you and your ward”, Glasha, Larias' Owner rumbled.  A tall collection of vines and branches, each tipped with gloriously colorful foliage of reds and yellows, he smiled as he comfortingly held Laria with a few vines.  “You see?  Gladialis has her, she’s well taken care of, petal.”

“We’re actually on our way to the doctor now.  She’s woken up a few times, had something to drink.  I’m guessing all that running tired her out”, Gladialis said.

“Well, let’s not keep you”, Thephra said.  “They’ll be back soon enough, friends.”  He shooed everyone away, and Gladialis left the building, worried and anxious to see the doctor.  She needed to wait for a few moments for the mag-rail, but that was ok, since it gave her time to organize her thoughts.

She walked into the Doctors office, and the receptionist, Penny, nodded at her.  “Hello again, Miss Dulcisa.  Doctor Manku told me you’d be coming.  He’s expecting you.  Just go on back, ok?” 

To say that Gladialis ran back there would be an overstatement.  But she definitely moved faster than before through the open door, and found Doctor Manku sitting there.

“Ahhh, so good to see you”, he said, and gestured to the exam table.  “Let's put our little patient down over here, shall we?  And I'll get started.  Other than when you woke her up to drink, has she had periods of lucidity, or wakefulness?”, he asked as Gladialis opened the bower she’d made of her vines.  He watched as she delicately lifted the sleeping Kitten up and put her down on the exam table, treating her as if she was made of some spun sugar that would dissolve in a moderate breeze.  ‘And yet she’s still insisting that she’s doing the right thing’, he thought to himself.  There was something just..off-putting about it all.  Oddly disquieting, to be honest.  Grabbing his tools, he wheeled himself over and vines reached out, straightening small limbs.  “we’ll start with some basic bloodwork, and then if we need to, we’ll dig a bit deeper into the soil and see what we can’t unroot, hmm?”

Gladialis watched as the Doctor reached behind him without even looking and began to pull out tools.  One of the walls in the office shimmered and became a display, showing Kittens vitals and some other measurements.  “All that is from her cuffs?”, she asked.

“Cuffs, the bed”, came the laconic reply, and then Doctor Manku began to do the real work.  A flower was held gently over a limb, the roots reaching out and gently tapping into the vessel underneath it so smoothly and so delicately that there was no trauma or pain.  Sampling the vessel, the petals began to turn red as they absorbed Kittens blood.  Gently plucking the bloom from the stem, another began to blossom as he turned and put it in the analyzer.  It went to work, humming as the flower began to dry, all of Kittens blood being sucked out, spun into its components, read and worked on some more.  Numbers flashed on the wall, along with some other symbols as he nodded and stroked his beard.  “Well, she’s not fighting off an infection, and there’s no chance of her being anemic, which is good.  Like I said before, she’s got a strong heart, probably because she was living in a higher gravity setting for so long.  Which is good, since I would have expected her troponin, CPK or IMA to be elevated, but her heart is better than normal.  It’s truly not damaged in the slightest.  Her normal electrolytes are a bit low, see here?”, he said, pointing with a vine.  “She needs some more fluids, and it looks like she’s a little low on her sodium and potassium.  Thanks to you, it’s not lower.  Also, her thyroid is working a bit overtime, probably trying to catch up to her body.”

Some more numbers flashed on the wall, and Gladialis watched as the doctor continued stroking his beard.  “Hmmm.  Can I see that class Z you used?”, he asked, and she quickly handed over the sample he wanted, shaking the pollen into his hand.  

“Hmmm…this is a fairly common xenodrug”, he said, looking at it and then tasting the flower.  .  “Terran Xenodrug Class-Z Variant 16.32.  Also known as rathina, don’t ask me why.  The flower it was synthesized from wasn’t called that.”

“So..umm…what was it, then?  Kitten isn’t on any other xenodrugs that could have interacted with this one.  This is, to the best of my knowledge, the first time she’s willingly taken a xenodrug”, Gladialis asked.

“Nothing, Gladialis.  These cuties sometimes have idiosyncratic reactions, and this was just one of them.  Sometimes to foods, sometimes to medications.  Allergies, you know, are just an idiosyncratic reaction where mast cells release a lot of histamine due to some external factor.  You didn’t do anything wrong, and there’s nothing wrong with Kitten.  Well…you know, except the exhaustion.  And…hmmm”, and he waved the wall back, the display rewinding itself to flash other numbers and some data that Gladialis couldn’t interpret.  “She’s a bit low on a few neurotransmitters, which is why she’s sleeping so deeply.  Her body is simply trying to replenish them all, and this is the safest way for her to do that.”

“Can you…umm…well, her recovery.  Are there any complications, or a way to speed up her recovery?  I can't imagine that being low on neurotransmitters is a good thing.  Everything I’ve read said that it’s the cause for Terrans to have depression and anxiety, among other mental illnesses”, Gladialis asked, and Doctor Manku chuckled.  

“I can do far more than that”, he said as he pulled something from a drawer.  Sticking it into another machine, he set it, and then looked over the wall.  Pulling another bloom from the flower, he put it back in the analyzer, and then programmed it from his tablet.  “So right now, while I wait for the synthesis of…well, don’t worry about it.  But I'm testing your ward's blood and genetic code to see how her body will react to the xenodrugs that we routinely use, and what we can use to best help her.  Think of it like a sensitivity test these cuties used to use for allergies.”  A few minutes later, a ding!! came from the machine he was using, and he pulled out a small ampule and loaded it into an injector.  “This will help her recover far faster”, he said, and injected it into the stem that was currently in Kittens arm.  Then he tapped the flower as it gently came out, a trailing hair-fine root behind it.  Not even a drop of blood followed, but he still put a flower-bandage on it, just in case.

They settled down to wait, the Doctor making idle talk with Gladialis while they waited for Kitten to wake, and the machine to finish going through the couple of thousand different permutations and combinations of xenodrugs that were available, feasible, likely, and even highly unlikely but still possible in some distant universe.  Even some combinations that were so far fetched as to be implausible by any sane, thinking sophont.  And yet they checked for everything, since if there was even a chance that some combination could hurt this Terran, Doctor Manku was determined to find and prevent it from happening.

A groan from the bed stole Gladialis’s attention and she was at the bedside in a second.  “Quiet and careful”, she was warned.  Gladialis nodded and asked Doc to lower the lights since Kittens eyes were sensitive.  She smiled at Kitten as she lay there on the bed, blinking as the lights were lowered.  “Hi, Kitten”, she said, smiling.

Kitten woke up, knowing that she wasn’t in Gladialis’s hab.  For one thing, the lights were wrong.  Secondly, it didn’t look like it.  Thirdly, it didn’t feel like it. Fourthly, it didn’t smell like it.   If anything, it felt like  a doctor's table, and smelled like…it WAS a doctors office.  Worried, she cracked open an eye and saw Gladialis smiling at her.  Oddly, she looked worried, her buds sorta closed.  “Hey”, she whispered back.  “What happened?  I feel like I go….got hit by a mine cart.”

“Well, it looks like you had a paradoxical reaction to the Class-Z that I had”, Gladialis said.  “That’s why you got so energetic and..umm…well…you were hyper as a horse after getting some applesauce.  When you finally tired yourself out, you passed out and…and..umm…fell into my vines.  I am so sorry, little one.”

“Oh.  Well…don’t blame yourself, Gladialis”, she said weakly.  “It’s not like you knew that it would happen, right?”

“Of course not, Kitten!!”, she said, worried that her ward would think otherwise, and watched as Kitten nodded.

“Well….then there’s..ummm…nothing to worry about.  Things take…umm..they take time.  Not everyone is the same, so it’s…umm…it’s like your cotyledons.  It took you all time to learn how Terran bodies work, right?  This is..is the same.”  She smiled at gladialis in what she hoped was reassurance.  “And not for….nothing, but you guys figured it out…. in what, less than ten  years?  Terrans have been…. doing this for over three millenia…. and still are learning new things about our own bodies,.  I’d say you’re doing great.”

“Of course we are”, Doctor Manku said without hesitation.  “Our technology is better, our understanding of genetics and how things interact is better, and frankly, we know more about you little cuties than you do.”  He smiled.  “It is not without some small bit of pride that I can say that there is a reason that we are this good at taking care of this many sophont species.”

Kitten nodded, thinking.  She was exhausted, her mind slow and fumbling.  She knew that there were things she wanted to ask, but they all just slipped away, like a cloud of pollen in a breeze.  A chime from the corner caught her attention, and by the time she was able to focus on it, the doctor had already been there, taken something, and came back.

“Well, the good news is that I was able to figure out what would interact badly with your system, and more importantly, what won’t.  I was also able to see what you’re sensitive to, so that we can avoid overdosing you on anything.  That is, should you decide to try xenodrugs again.  But that’s something you need to decide for yourself, yes?”, Doctor Manku said as he tapped something into his tablet.  A chime sounded from Gladialis’s tablet in her vines.  “You’ll find that the Gardens here have everything on your list, Gladialis.”

“So…so what…?”, she asked and Doctor Manku nodded.

“Like Gladialis said, you had a paradoxical reaction.  Instead of the Class-Z putting you to sleep, it instead acted like a super caffeine.  Basically, it induced your adrenals to pump out a steady supply of epinephrine and GABA while raising your melatonin threshold to unhealthy levels.  Because you were breathing faster than normal, and your heart was also beating quite fast,  you were able to clear out the lactic acid that would normally have had you dropping from muscle fatigue and exhaustion far earlier.  And because of your history in high-G, you were able to compensate for all this far better than most other sophonts would.”  He stroked his beard, and smiled at her.    “You'll be tired for the next day or so.  You were low on some neurotransmitters so I replaced them, but it’s going to take some time until you're back to yourself.”

“So kind of like a Class Z0?”, Kitten asked, and watched as Doctor Manku smiled and handed her a lollipop.

“Someones been doing her research!!  Yes, something very similar, but this one had the added kick of a stimulant to it.  Something with quite a bit of oomph to it, as it turns out.  I don’t recommend you doing that ever again, to be honest.”

“I’ll..umm…try not to.  You… said that”, Kitten said, tired again.  “You replaced my…my neurotransmitters?”  She frowned for a moment, a herculean effort to look at her arms resulting in her laying her head back down with an exhausted groan.

“Oh yes.  You were running quite low on a few things that are important for your brain to function properly, so I replaced them.”  Doctor Manku wasn’t quite sure why this seemed to be a sticking point, and was curious what the reason was.  “Topped off your horse.”

“How…umm…how exactly could you..umm…replace..neurotransmitters so quickly?”, Kitten asked, unsure that she had heard him correctly, and blinked as Doctor Manku raised four arms ‘hadn’t there been only three?’ and pointed six thumbs at himself.

“Affini.”

Kitten stared.  “That…that’s it?”, she asked, unsure if the Doctor was giving her the answer or was boasting.  Maybe both.  She moved her head, fairly certain that they hadn't stuck anything through her skull.  So how did they replace anything?  “That’s the answer?”

“Correct, Kitten.  You Terran cuties learned to make yourselves fake neurotransmitters, about six hundred years ago.  What I did was…well….not to delve deeply into the science of it all, but I basically made the neurotransmitters that you were low on and injected them into you.”

“But..but…the..umm….blood-brain barrier…how…”, Kitten asked weakly.

“Well, they were part of a set of prions that are designed to flip and change into the appropriate configurations in the presence of synaptic activity and the right chemicals that are only in your brain.  Think of it as a targeted delivery”, Doctor Manku said as he waved three arms around.  He sounded proud, and he was.  It WAS impressive, the ability to target the specific areas that needed his care.  AND it made things so much easier.  ‘Imagine’, he thought, ‘having to take pills to fake your body into thinking that you had the correct neurotransmitters but it would take weeks to work and it was more guessing game than any which ones would work…How barbaric.’  “Anyways, prions, as you know, can make it through that barrier you cuties have.  Normally they make you sick if they're folded wrong, but like I said before.  Affini.”

Kitten nodded, feeling a bit stronger, even though she felt as weak as a day old kitten.  “Umm…so…umm…how long will…I be this weak?”

“Difficult to say.  Could be a day or two.  Could be less, it all depends on you, really.  but I can tell you what will help.  You need rest.  And you need something high in potassium and sodium for the next day.  I recommend a dish with potatoes.  Maybe even guacamole, which as my floret tells me, should be renamed guac-amazing.  That’s got potassium in it, and then you add some nachos or even a burger and you’ve got it all.”

“Umm…ok”, she said, yawning again.

“Kitten..I know that before you..umm…didn’t choose to..to land where you did”, Gladialis said nervously.  “I’m going to  pick you up and carry you around, is that ok?  I don’t think you’re strong enough to walk around on your own.”

Kitten nodded.  “I…umm…I trust you.  You’ve been…nothing but respectful and…and understanding.  I…umm…yes, please.”

“Me?”, Gladialis said, blushing as her buds closed and then opened slightly.  “I’m just doing what anyone else would do.  Should do.”

Doctor Manku snorted.  “She doesn’t know, does she?”

“No, and I’m not going to tell her.  Please don’t either, it’s not something that I want to share with her yet.  It’s her decision, and her journey.”  Gladialis spoke in the Affini dialect, her tone firm but respectful.  “I have no intention of swaying her with something that is out of my control.”  Doctor Manku made an affirmative sound, and raised three hands up in a gesture of acquiescence.

“Just remember what I said.  Rest, recover, and make sure that you eat.  If there’s any issues, then you can text me.  You’ll feel better in a day or two.  Any other questions?”, Doctor Manku asked, and then made a shooing gesture when they didn’t.  

Gladialis looked at Kitten and then “swallowed”, a movement that had some of the vines that made up her half-skirt shrinking, and then drop again.  “i’m going to pick you up now, ok Kitten?  If I do anything that isn’t comfortable, then let me know.”

Kitten nodded, and then watched as vines began to move towards her.  Feeling them wriggle under her, she squeaked, and they froze.  “No…no…it’s…”, and she took a deep breath.  “I’m sorry.  I trust you.  I do.”  As she nodded, they moved underneath her, soft and supple and then they turned to steel.  Lifting her up gently, two cradled her head and brought her closer.  Letting out a shaky breath, Kitten nodded.  This wasn’t anything like the ship.  Gladialis had been gentle there as well, but she’d been so terrified then.  Now she wasn’t, and she could see the care that was in her eyes and her whole body.  How she kept asking if what she was doing was ok, if it was making Kitten uncomfortable or nervous.  THe vines retracted, pulling her closer to Gladialis and then they deposited her in this…The only way she had to describe it was a carrier.  Like a shallow baby basket woven out of vines that held her.  

Gladialis laid her down gently and then tightened everything so that Kitten was laying comfortably against her, but able to see ahead.  She’d gotten the idea from an item that she’d seen Terran women wear to hold their infants.  Granted, it was from the early 1990’s, but it was a flawless design and she had adapted it.  “There…is that ok?”

Kitten nodded, and then looked out at Doctor Manku who was giving her the oddest expression.  “Is…umm…is everything ok?”

“Hmm?  Oh yes.  Just thinking of something.  I’m wondering if anyone from wherever it is that you came from is going to have the same issues as you do, Kitten.  So I'm going to make a note of it, keep an eye out for any other sophonts who share this.  But I’m sure you have your reasons and you’ll tell us where you’re from  when you’re ready.  Until then?  Get some food and some more sleep.”

Kitten nodded, and then Gladialis walked out of the office.